Sean "Diddy" Combs, the hip-hop mogul who has been accused by several women of sexual assault, was arrested in New York late Monday following a federal grand jury indictment.
Sean “Diddy” Combs was recently arrested in New York City after being indicted by a federal grand jury.
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| Getty Images |
The indictment remains sealed, and the exact charges against Combs are not yet public. However, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, confirmed that federal agents took Combs into custody on Monday, September 16, at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan.
Combs' attorney, Marc Agnifilo, criticized the arrest, calling it an “unjust prosecution” by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Agnifilo noted that Combs was aware of the pending indictment and had voluntarily relocated to New York in anticipation of it.
He further said that Combs is not a criminal, stating, “Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
Despite the current secrecy surrounding the charges, Combs has faced several allegations in recent years. Earlier in 2023, he was under investigation for sex trafficking, though no formal charges emerged at the time.
Additionally, Combs has faced multiple accusations of sexual assault and battery. In November, his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, sued him for years of alleged abuse, including rape, beatings, and forcing her into sex trafficking. Though the lawsuit was settled out of court, the allegations were very damaging to Combs’ public image.
Ventura’s lawsuit also claimed that Combs had forced her to engage in sexual acts with male sex workers while he filmed. This was part of a broader pattern of coercion and abuse that spanned multiple years.
Cassie’s lawsuit, along with several others, initiated increased public scrutiny of Combs. In May, a leaked video showed Combs physically assaulting Ventura in a hotel hallway in 2016. Combs later posted an apology video on social media, admitting his actions were “inexcusable.”
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| Cassie Ventura, Sean Diddy Combs in 2017, Photo: Paul Bruinooge/PMC |
Aside from the allegations made by Cassie, other women have also filed lawsuits against Combs. One woman claimed that Combs raped her two decades ago when she was just 17 years old. Another lawsuit filed by music producer April Lampros detailed years of abuse and coercion starting when Lampros was a college student in 1994. Combs’ legal team has consistently denied the allegations, describing them as baseless and without proof.
Combs’ attorney, Aaron Dyer, described the investigation as an “unprecedented ambush” and criticized the raids on Combs’ properties in Los Angeles and Miami in March as excessive. Dyer maintained that Combs had not been found liable for any criminal or civil actions related to these claims. While it is unclear whether the current indictment is linked to these previous lawsuits, Combs’ legal troubles appear to intensify.
As the founder of Bad Boy Records, Combs played a major role in shaping hip-hop over the last three decades, working with major artists like Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, and Usher. However, the public fallout from the sexual assault claims and the leaked footage of his physical abuse has had significant repercussions. Howard University cut ties with Combs, and he was pressured to return his key to the city of New York.
In 1999, Combs was at the center of a high-profile Manhattan nightclub shooting that injured three people. Though he was acquitted of charges related to carrying an illegal weapon and bribing his driver to take the fall, the trial marked one of the biggest hip-hop legal battles of the era. His former protégé, Shyne, was convicted in the shooting and served eight years in prison.
Combs was also arrested in 1999 for beating up a record executive in New York. He pleaded guilty to harassment and was sentenced to attend anger management classes.